New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine suffered several serious injuries last night after his motorcade was involved in an accident caused by a driver who fled the scene, police said.

Corzine was listed in critical but stable condition at Cooper University Hospital in Camden following two hours of surgery, said Dr. Robert Ostrum. More operations are expected.

The governor suffered a broken leg, sternum and collarbone, a slight fracture of the lower vertebrae and six broken ribs on each side.

A breathing tube was inserted into his mouth, but he did not suffer brain or spinal-cord damage.

Doctors inserted metal rods in his broken femur, which went through his skin, and a plastic surgeon worked on a serious gash on his forehead, Ostrum said.

A state trooper and an aide to the governor suffered minor injuries in the smash-up, which happened at about 5:45 p.m. on the northbound Garden State Parkway in Galloway Township.

Robert Rasinski, the state trooper driving the governor’s Chevy Tahoe, swerved to avoid a Dodge Ram. The Dodge went into the path of the governor’s vehicle to avoid a red pickup truck that had gone out of control, said State Police Superintendent Rick Fuentes.

Corzine’s driver was able to avoid hitting other vehicles, but the Chevy struck a guardrail.

Rasinski suffered minor injuries, Fuentes said. The aide, identified by the Star Ledger as Samantha Gordon, was described as shaken up. The governor does not usually wear a seat belt, a law-enforcement official said, but it was unknown whether he was wearing one at the time of the crash.

The Dodge Ram stopped after the accident, but the red pickup truck that caused the chain reaction kept going.

The governor was taken from the car and put on a stretcher. He was then transported via helicopter to the hospital.

State Senate President Richard Codey, a fellow Democrat, will be acting governor during Corzine’s surgeries. Codey had the same role when former Gov. Jim McGreevey resigned.

Corzine will be in the intensive-care unit and it could take “days to weeks” for him to be well enough to return to work, Ostrum said.

Lt. Jim Freund, with the Great Bay Regional Volunteer Emergency Medical Service in Atlantic County, said Corzine was “conscious but moaning” when he was removed from his wrecked SUV.

Corzine had been in Atlantic City yesterday afternoon to speak at the New Jersey Conference of Mayors’ annual meeting, and was heading back to the governor’s mansion in Princeton to meet with Don Imus and the Rutgers women’s basketball team at the time of the crash.